Lawyers, Guns, and Money
by AngelicDragons
Summary: An AU situation where everyone is in a little bit different place. Jim Beckett hit the job instead of the bottle and created a company to help other, whatever kind of help that might be.
1. Lawyers, Guns, and Money

**I know that his looks like the beginning to some large, involved, AU story. It's not. This is all I have. Basically this set up was solely so I could write a story called "Lawyers, Guns, and Money". Yes, I'm a Warren Zevon fan. "Werewolves of London" has already been used and I couldn't work in "Excitable Boy" or "Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner."**

**Please enjoy this movie teaser like one shot. It's all build up with absolutely no payoff.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Castle, Warren Zevon, "Lawyers, Guns, and Money", "Werewolves of London", "Excitable Boy" or anything else that anyone would be interested enough to write about.**

* * *

Jim Beckett put down his sandwich and stared at the man across the desk from him. Javier Esposito had helped him start this company. Helped him get justice for Johanna. Jim had thrown himself into his work after his wife's death. Any case of any type. He ended up helping some vets with things that occurred to them with the Vet Admin and DOD. That's how he had met Javier the first time. After a little while he started looking into his wife's murder. He uncovered a kidnapping conspiracy connected to the appeals case that Johanna was working on. Three days later Javier showed up at his house with a friend, Hal Lockwood. Hal told him that he was being blackmailed, his kids safety, to kill not only Captain Montgomery, his two accomplices, but Jim and his daughter as well. The resulting mess brought down a senator and motivated Jim, Javier, and Hal to form a security/legal company. Javier wanted to call the company The A-Team. Jim and Hal were both Warren Zevon fans, so Lawyers, Guns, and Money was formed. Everything was officially called LGM Inc., but the founders knew what it stood for.

That had all happened seven years ago. Three years after that, the company helped on a high profile celebrity murder and kidnapping case that his daughter had been working on as a detective in the NYPD. Not long after that case she had left the NYPD and become part of the company. Those two cases allowed LGM to create quite the list of powerful clients in the government, industry, business, and entertainment. And now Javi was telling him something he simply couldn't believe.

"So, your army buddy, Rick Rogers, known the world over as Richard Castle was on a book tour in Europe, Ukraine to be precise, when the whole Russian thing occurred. While he was trying to get out of the country, a group impersonating Russian military raided the hotel and separated the guest out. It was only at that time that everyone realized it was a kidnapping. His daughter has been taken and a ransom of two million is supposed to be delivered in roughly", Jim glanced at his watch, "72 hours?"

"Yep. He knows what I do and he knows the company's reputation. He wants it handled by the best. Ryan is already on his way to make contact."

Kevin Ryan, had been in the Police Academy when his talent for languages got noticed along with his Irish background. He got put undercover in the Irish mob for almost two years. The job ended successfully but Kevin's identity had been completely blown at the very end. Rather than get shoved into some other duty at the NYPD or FBI he approached a police academy class mate that had just left to enter the private sector. With Kate's glowing recommendation and his credentials Jim and the guys didn't even interview him, just offered him the job.

"He was in London anyway. Hal says he's in and we are pulling a list for the team. What we need is command and control. Someone who can work the politics and the money. Someone that won't have to come here and ask permission or work through someone else. Not one of the new guys and someone that definitely knows the culture and language."

Like someone that spent a year in Kiev as an exchange student and goes back to visit often because she loves the place."

"Exactly. You know somebody?"

Jim let a smile creep across his face. "Oh, you know them too. Just let me make a call."

As Javi left the office Jim picked up his phone and dialed a number from memory. It only rang once before it was answered.

"Dad. I said space. After that last fiasco, I'm not sure I can do this anymore. I may go back to law school. I may live of the money you're making at the company. I need time and perspective to make a decision like that, though I'm leaning toward mooching off of you. Calling me a week into my vacation is not space. I told you I need to listen to the universe. I respect the universe."

"Well Katie the universe just called. It said that Richard Castle's daughter has been kidnapped in the Ukraine and he wants us to handle the payment and handover." Had it been anyone other than his daughter, Jim would have been certain the noise he heard was a squeal, but Katherine Beckett didn't squeal. After a moment of silence he continued. "Don't you respect the universe?"

"I'll be there in forty." And with that the line went dead.

* * *

Thirty-eight and half minutes later Kate Beckett walked through the doors of her dad's office setting a go bag down in the corner. She didn't even say hello.

"Why the hell was he in the Ukraine? Doesn't he know it's a damn war zone? What happened to his daughter? Who is running the tactical team? Who is making first contact? Have you made contact yet?"

"Nice to see you too, Katie. Thank you for cutting your vacation short."

"Dad?" she hit him with the glare she picked up while being a Homicide Detective. It didn't have the desired effect.

"He is Javi's friend so he is heading up the team with Hal. Kevin is making first contact. He is catching a flight from London to Kiev now. I swear there isn't a language he doesn't know. I want you to run the operations…"

"Wait. Javi's friend? Richard Castle is Javi's friend? How? Why didn't I know this? I'll kill him."

"Then you would have to admit to being a Richard Castle fan girl and we both know that is a tightly held secret. You would never live it down. You are turning red right now, and I'm your father."

"Fine. Have you called him yet?"

"I was waiting for you." With that Jim picked up the phone and began dialing.

"Richard Castle."

"Mr. Castle. This is Jim Beckett from LGM Inc. I also have my daughter Katherine here. Javi has given me the broad outline of what happened. But I would like to hear it from you."

Richard Castle took a deep breath into center himself. "We were on a book tour. When this whole Russian thing happened we were getting ready to leave. In fact we were actually headed to the car when what we believed to be Russian soldiers entered the hotel. They didn't shoot anyone, but they brought plenty of firepower. They were really good separating us. We were in the lobby on our knees with our backs to them. One of them was speaking English. He's the one that started ordering people to stand up and then the group of standing individuals where walked out."

Both Jim and Kate heard a sob on the phone. "I should have done something when they stood Alexis up, but they were all armed and I can't help her dead. I offered money, myself, anything if they let her go. That's when I got hit in the back of the head. When I came too, they were gone and roughly a third of the guest were as well. The Kiev police and Ukraine military are investigating, but when I got the ransom demand, I called Javi. He said you could help."

"Mr. Castle" Kate spoke up. "You did the right thing. You were out manned and out gunned. The best way to help your daughter, Alexis, is to stay alive. A member of our company, Kevin Ryan, is already on his way to you. He should be arriving shortly. I will be leaving her in the next two hours with a team to oversee the transaction. It is your intention to pay the ransom, correct?"

"Yes. Yes. Whatever they want to get my girl back, absolutely."

"Alright Mr. Castle." Jim continued. "Kevin will be in contact with you when he lands. If you need anything dial this number or contact Kate. I've just texted you her information."

"One last thing Mr. Castle." Kate finished "I know she is your baby, but please, don't do anything foolish. Wait for us to get there and get in place. Alright."

"I'll do my best. Thank you."

"Don't thank us till this is over Mr. Castle. I will talk to you soon." Kate finished. Jim and Kate waited for Castle to hang up the phone. Kate stood from the chair. "Well this is a mess. I'll reach out to my contacts in Kiev, on both sides of the law, and see if anyone knows anything. I'm going to go get Javi and Hal moving."

"I'll call the hangar and get one of the cargos up and ready."

"Thanks Dad."

"Be careful Kate."

"Always."


	2. The Flight Out

**First I want to apologize for my outburst story the other day. It was over the top, sad, mean spirited, and ,worst of all, poorly written. It's been deleted and will never be mentioned again. I've learned my lesson. Never write mad. If you do write mad, have the good sense not to publish the stupid thing.**

**Now, I have also learned something else. I will never again write anything and call it a one shot. I am apparently incapable of keeping my trap shut. Here the second chapter of yet another one shot.**

**Please temper you expectations for this story. When you finish reading this you will know as much about what is going on as I do. I have no idea when or if anything else will come to me.**

**I did realize that I've managed to create an entire back story that I could write out in detail just to get everybody here to this point. I'm especially curious as to how everyone takes what I've done with Lockwood. Apparently I have some sort of subconscious desire to turn all the bad guys good. Check my story "Fallout" to understand what I mean.**

**On with the show.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Castle.**

* * *

Cargo planes. All the soldiers were used to flying on these things. They stowed their gear and then did their best to relax or rest because they didn't know what was at the end of flight. Kate hated the things. It wasn't just that they were uncomfortable, which they were, is was the vibration. It always made her teeth hurt. She popped two Motrin and leaned forward into her hands. The first time this had happened she had made the mistake of leaning her head back against the fuselage of the plane. That had been an incredibly stupid move. It set off a migraine that stayed with her for the entire 14 hour flight.

"Beckett, you alright?" Hal had walked over to her. "I didn't know you got air sick."

"I don't. It's these cargo planes. The vibration affects some fillings I have. I need to get them fixed but I hate the dentist." Kate said without moving her head from her hands.

"You are afraid of the dentist?" Hal sounded shocked by the confession.

That made Kate look up. "I said I don't like them. I didn't say anything about fear."

"I didn't think so." Hal walked back toward the rear of the plane where the gear was.

Kate groaned and sat up. She grabbed her back pack and went to pull out the book she brought. She had just purchased it and hadn't had a chance to start it yet. She was just about to pull it out of her bag when she realized whose book it was.

"Crap!"

If they caught her reading the latest Richard Castle book while on an assignment for the man she would never hear the end of it. The problem was she didn't have anything else to do for the flight.

"Screw it."

If they gave her any grief about it she would just tell them it was for research. If they questioned her reasoning she would quiz them about the man and the mission until they didn't know one of the answers to a questions she asked. That would put them in their place and allow her to keep a little of her dignity.

* * *

Hal Lockwood stretched out on the floor of the plane on his sleeping bag and rested his head on his ever present backpack. The fact that could rest like this while on a cargo plane attested to just how much time he had spent in service. Over time he had found it to be the second most comfortable way he ever slept. The first of course being at home in bed with his wife.

As he closed his eyes to get some rest before everything went into overdrive he marveled at the events that got him to his current situation. There he had been, sitting in a bar working his way into a blind drunk when by complete chance Javier Esposito walked in and saw him there. If he had been anything other than completely wasted he never would have told Javi about the threat on the lives of his family or the things he was being forced to do. However, the universe as Jim called it, smiled on him that night. Javi actually knew one of the people that Hal was supposed to kill. Just the thought sent a chill down his spine. With typical Javi "charge straight ahead" thinking, he pulled Hal out of the bar and took him directly to Jim's house. In a drunken haze he had told Jim the entire story from the beginning. How he had been working security jobs since leaving the military. He though getting the job with Cerebus Enterprises was the job of a life time. He had only been there a week before he got called into an office and given review of everything he had ever done in service to his country. Even the classified, blacked out things. That's when they threatened his wife and kids. That's when they showed him that he had been framed for other operations they had done since he had been hired. How he had been sent on jobs to locations where the company was operating other teams. He thought for sure that Jim would immediately contact the police to turn him in. Jim did call the police, not to turn him in, but to get him help. They actually went to Captain Montgomery, one of the other names on the list. They faked Montgomery's death to keep Hal's family safe and to force a meet with the people threating his family. That had started the domino's falling that eventually got justice for Jim and his daughter. He would always be in debt to Jim for what he did, Javi as well. It was great making good money, having a happy family, but what really made it, was helping people. Hal was taking all the skills he had and making lives better. That's the thought he held in his mind as he finally fell asleep.

* * *

The Richard Castle. Just be professional Kevin. Be professional. The man's daughter has been kidnapped and the last thing he needs is the guy he expects to help get her back to be a bumbling fan. Kevin straightened as the elevator came to a stop. Richard Castle was still in the same hotel room he had been in when everything happened. It was the smart move. This way if his daughter escaped on her own he would be at the one place she would most likely return to.

Kevin walked down the hall and knocked on the doors at the end. The door was opened by a blonde woman a little older than Kevin. He held out his official LMG Inc identity card and introduced himself. "My name is Kevin Ryan. I work with LMG Inc. I'm here to talk to Mr. Castle about his missing daughter."

The lady smiled politely. "Yes. I'm Gina Cowel. I'm Rick's publisher." She stepped back and opened the door wider to let Kevin in.

As he entered the suite another lady approached and offered her hand. "I'm Rick's agent. Thank you for coming so quickly."

"Of course." Kevin continued into the suite and set his back pack down on the coffee table while taking a seat on the sofa. "In situations like this, time is of the utmost importance. To that end, I really need to talk Mr. Castle about what happened in greater detail. We have the broad strokes of what happened, but the more information we have the better the outcome will be."

"Of course." Gina said. "I'll get him." With that she walked out of the room toward the master bedroom.

The man that accompanied her back out of the bedroom bore only a passing resemblance to the man on the dust cover of the book he brought with him. His hair was wild, his skin was pale, and his eyes were blood shot. It was obvious he hadn't slept since his daughter had gone missing. This was always the trickiest part of the meeting. Mr. Castle was obviously completely distraught and not functioning at one hundred percent. He was experiencing the worst moment of his life. In moments like this anything could set a person off, including absolutely nothing. Kevin had found that being straight forward and honest was the best way to go.

"Mr. Castle, I can't begin to imagine what you are going through and I'm not going to sit here and tell you I can. All I can promise you is that everyone I work with and myself will do everything and anything we have to to get your daughter back. The first step in that is to go over what happened when your daughter was taken." Kevin saw him begin to argue. "Mr. Esposito has already give us the broad strokes of what occurred but in situations like this even the smallest detail can be important."

Mr. Castle began to slowly nod his head. Kevin pulled out a pen and pad from his backpack to take notes. Castle began the morning of the invasion. He even remembered what they had eaten for breakfast. As he continued, Kevin couldn't help but notice, the story telling he was famous for. The man couldn't help but be very descriptive in anything he said. Normally Kevin had to press and prod for detail. In this instance he was having to be sure to stick only to the pertinent facts. It was so easy to get lost in the story Castle was weaving. How the soldiers descended on the hotel in force. How everyone was quickly subdued and bound. They all were sat on the floor and blind folded. Right before the blind fold went on was the last time that Castle had seen his daughter. He began to cry openly when recounting the fear that he was in her eyes. Kevin didn't say anything. He simply allowed his friends to comfort him until he could move on.

Roughly forty five minutes later, Kevin had the most complete story ever given to him by a client. "Mr. Castle, I'm going to stay here with you until the rest of the team arrives. I'm going to take your statement and send it to the team now. They may have more questions for you after reading it. Are there any questions you have for me?"

Castle looked up from his hands and simply shook his head from side to side.

* * *

Kate was a third the way through the book when Tori sat down beside her. Tori handed her a data pad.

"Here is Kevin's report. I have to say that it has to be the most detailed witness statement I've ever seen. You can almost see the whole thing in your mind's eye."

Kate took the offered piece of technology. "Well, he is a world famous author. I guess it's hard to turn off the story telling part of the brain. I certainly hope that we can get something useful from it." Kate quickly scanned the statement. "So, no more contact from the kidnappers?"

"Nope, not as of receiving this five minutes ago."

"Then I guess it's time for me to reach out."

"You know, one day, you are going to have to tell me how an upper crust Manhattenite ended up with connections in the Ukrainian mafia. That has to be one hell of a story."

"No, not really." Kate smiled to herself. The actual story was so simple and completely unbelievable she stopped trying to explain it to people. They always thought she was lying anyway. The simple truth was that she spent the summer between her freshman and sophomore year in Kiev. She had stayed with a nice family. They had two daughters her age and a younger son. She had been there two weeks studying and touring around the city when she found out who the family sponsoring her was. She had been out with Halyna and Sveta. They had all gone to a little coffee shop. The sisters were still inside waiting on their orders and Kate had gone outside to wait. Apparently she still looked too much like a tourist, because two young men approached her and drew a knife. Kate was just about to bolt when Halyna and Svet walked out of the little shop calling her name. Upon seeing the two girls, the two criminals turned ashen white, apologized to Kate and ran down the street. That's how can learned that there father was an underboss in the Ukrainian mafia. Since that time Svet had moved to New York city, Kate had come back to visit several times and there father, who Kate simply called "Little Bear" because he was 6'4'' and 300lbs, had become the head of the Kiev mafia. If anyone knew who was impersonating soldiers and kidnapping for Ransom. It would be "Little Bear".

Kate pulled out the satellite phone and punched in the numbers she read from her regular cell phone.


End file.
